Yesterday had been quite an eventful day. The two carers came on time at 8.00am which was the normal start time and we got Meg ready quite expeditiously. I knew that the car was due to be collected by the garage who give it its annual service so I received a telephone call to confirm that I was expecting them, which I was. After the car had been collected and Meg and I were breakfasted, we made our way down to our 'Lemon Tree' cafe although, in all honesty, I did not feel like much of a trip this morning. But the effort paid off because after our coffee break, I called in at the AgeUK furniture store on the High Street - not that I was in need of any more furniture. But having chipped and broken one of my favourite coffee mugs, I was on the lookout for a replacement. I did buy two mugs actually because they were made of porcelain, one with a hedgehog design and the other with sheep! But for some reason, they had been discounted down to 50p so were not to be ignored for this quality, They also had a rail of clothing further discounted and I found a fine merino-type long sleeved pullover in a deep bottle green colour. Being a 'medium' size I thought this might be too small and I wondered if I might find something that I could wear as a supplement to my pyjama top to keep me warm during the night. But having got this piece home and tried it on, it is actually too good for night time use so I am wearing at the moment and will continue to wear it as normal day time clothing. Also, although it had been put on the rail this morning, it had been discounted down to £1.50 so this was snaffled up as well so the top and my two coffee cups still came to less than the price for a cup of coffee. Earlier, I had popped into the Salvation Army shop and purchased quite a pleasant porcelain mug. But when I got it home, I discovered it had the attribution of 'Nicola Spring' and is very probably hand-painted porcelain pottery. Consulting the web, I find that 'Nicola Spring' seems to be a whole range of hand designed and beautiful household goods and so I seem to have found myself another bargain. This is now going to be my regular 'afternoon tea' cup as I now have a choice of porcelain mugs. The trip down to town was also punctuated by a brief chat with one of our friends from down the road and another, more extended. chat with one of my fellow Pilates class mates. She indicated that they were sort of missing me and wondering how I was getting on but I gave my friend the briefest of updates so that she could pass it on to the other class members. She noticed the changes in Meg almost straight away as it is a few months since we all last met when she paid us a visit in the afternoon. We knew that today we were due to have a visit from a physio and a representative from the firm that supplied specialist 'riser-recliner' chairs to the NHS and they were expected at 2.00pm. However, we received a telephone call asking if they could the appointment forward to 12.45 to which they agreed but they actually turned up at 11.45 whilst we were still out. So they came back an hour later, coinciding with the late morning carers. Meg was hoisted out of her armchair and into the specialist chair that had been brought along to assess its suitability for Meg. The particular model they bought will seem to suit Meg's needs perfectly so they are due to go ahead and order it although I think we will receive the mechanical rather than the electric model. But this new chair when it arrives in about 3-4 weeks time should give more lateral support to her body and is altogether more suitable than what we have at the moment where Meg needs supporting with cushions of various sizes and shapes.
After the 'tea time' care call has been made, Meg entertain ourselves with a cup of tea and some chocolate and then see what YouTube has to offer either in the way of comedy or music. Today, we were treated to a concert all of which we enjoyed. It started with a Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 followed by Bach's Brandenburg No. 1 This was played by a very small orchestra only about 15-16 members on what appeared to be period instruments. I was pretty sure that I espied a couple of recorders (the full size ones) but I could not be certain as the mouthpiece looked like that of a recorder but I think it had some oboe-like keys to reach some of the lower notes. Then this was followed by Mozart's Piano Concert No. 23 which is one of my favourites, the slow movement expressing such incredible sadness you can almost feel the tears. In fact I want this slow movement played at my funeral but to be followed on the way out by the third movement, which is full of vivacity and joy (had a bag of money arrived that morning?)
The British political elite are waking up the fact that for the next four years, they will have to deal with President-elect Trump (as he now is) Keir Starmer and David Lammie, the Foreign Secretary are hoping that the links they established with Trump and leading Republicans before the British election will pay off but it rather depends on what Donald Trump remembers of past adverse comments and whether he wants to play vindictive or not. The best British hope is that Trump's rhetoric will gave way to the 'art of the deal' and the Americans might be open to the argument that a trade war between the USA and the UK serves no one's interests. Several scenarios are apparently being 'gamed' within the Whitehall machine with the biggest unknown, apart from the tariff issue, as to how Trump will deal with Ukraine. From the Ukrainian perspective, there are some weeks (and money left) from the Biden presidency so that need to think hard about what can be done in the next nine weeks. One way or another, I have the feeling that Europe cannot let Putin be the victor in this context so all European societies may have to dig deeper for support. Just at the wrong moment from Ukraine's point of view, the German government has collapsed and this will certainty be a bit of blow to the Ukrainians.
© Mike Hart [2024]